...Kingdom of Serbia ranked first among the Entente powers by the percentage of military deaths in WWI; 8% of the total Entente military deaths or 58% of the Serbian Army (420,000 strong) has perished during the conflict?... the grave of Atilla the Hun is located on the confluence of the rivers Tisza and Danube?... ...that Constantine the Great, the first great Byzantine emperor and the founder of the Constantinople was born in Nis (Naissus)?

...that Belgrade won the title of City of the Future for Southern Europe in a contest sponsored by The Economist/FDI Magazine?Other award-winning cities were London (Northern Europe), Paris (Western Europe), Brno (Central Europe), and Baku (Eastern Europe). These cities are recognized as places to invest in their regions.

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, himself a Russian, composed the Slavonic March (Marche Slave) in 1876, known at first as the “Serbo-Russian March”, based on the Serbian folk melody “Come, my Dearest, why So Sad this Morning?”.

Symbols

Serbian people's flag

The Serbian flag is a red-blue-white tricolour. It is often combined with one or both of the other Serb symbols.

The Serbian cross. If displayed on a field, traditionally it is on red field, but could be used with no field at all.

Both the eagle and the cross, besides being the basis for various Serbian coats of arms through history, are bases for the symbols of various Serbian organizations, political parties, institutions and companies.

Serbian folk attire varies, mostly because of the very diverse geography and climate of the territory inhabited by the Serbs. Some parts of it are, however, common:

A traditional shoe that is called the opanak. It is recognizable by its distinctive tips that spiral backward. Each region of Serbia has a different kind of tips.

A traditional hat that is called the šajkača. It is easily recognizable by its top part that looks like the letter V or like the bottom of a boat (viewed from above), after which it got its name. It gained wide popularity in the early 20th century as it was the hat of the Serbian army in the First World War. It is still worn everyday by some villagers today, and it was a common item of headgear among Bosnian Serb military commanders during the Bosnian War in the 1990s. However, "šajkača" is common mostly for the Serbian population living in the region of Central Serbia (Šumadija), while Serbs living in Vojvodina, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Croatia had different types of traditional hats, which are not similar to "šajkača". Different types of traditional hats could be also found in eastern and southern parts of Central Serbia.

Of all Slavs and Orthodox Christians, only Serbs have the custom of slava. The custom could also be found among some Russians and Albanians of Serbian origin although it has often been lost in the last century. Slava is celebration of a saint; unlike most customs that are common for the whole people, each family separately celebrates its own saint (of course, there is a lot of overlap) who is considered its protector. A slava is inherited from father to son and each household may only have one celebration which means that the occasion brings all of the family together.
The traditional Serbian dance is a circle dance called kolo. It is a collective dance, where a group of people (usually several dozen, at the very least three) hold each other by the hands or around the waist dancing, forming a circle (hence the name), semicircle or spiral. Similar circle dances also exist in other cultures of the region.
The Serbian Orthodox Church uses the Julian calendar, so Christmas currently falls on January 7 of the Gregorian calendar.

Eat

When ordering a burger ask for 'pljeskavica' (pronounced: pl-yee-eska-veetsa) ask for kajmak (like sour cream) (pronounced: kay-mahk) it tastes better than it sounds. Stepin Vajat and Duff at Autokomanda, Loki in downtown area and Iva in Žarkovo are the best grill fastfood restaurants in town. Also try ćevapcici (pronounced: tse-vaptsitsi), they are small parcels of minced meat, grilled with hot spices. It is considered a local fast food delicacy. Highly recommended to carnivores.

Burek (pronounced Boor-ek), sometimes decribed as the Balkan equivalent of McDonalds due to its being sold everywhere, is very delicious. It is made with a range of fillings including meat, cheese, spinach, apple, cherry....... Not for dieters as it is quite oily. Morning is definitely the best time to eat this (sometimes sold-out by afternoon).
Kiflice (kee-flee-tse)are lovely little crescent rolls.
Paprikas (paprika-sh) - stew with paprika often with chicken
Gulas - stew with paprika with beef
Sarma - cabbage rolls, similar to dolmades but made with sauerkraut instead of vine leaves
Gibanica -(ghee-ban-eetsa) - phillo pie with spinach and cheese or just cheese (like spanakopita or tiropita in Greece)
Punjene Paprike - stuffed peppers (Poony-eenay Pap-reekay)
Pasulj - (pas-ool-y) - beans-a national specialty. Often cooked for a long time with onion and paprika. Delicious.
Riblja čorba - (reeblya-a chorba) Fish soup using freshwater catch.
Roštilj (barbecue) - the most delicious food in the world
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Drink
Rakija (there are many flavours, like plum (pronounce like she-lyee-va), quince (dun-ya)...
Loza (from grapes, a type of rakija)
Voda = Water
Slivovitz (the national drink of Serbia, and a very popular, strong alcoholic beverage)

Tap water is perfectly safe to drink, and mainly of a good quality, too. There are also many springs and fountains with excellent-quality drinking water - the most popular ones being the fountain on Knez Mihailova in Belgrade, and the many fountains in the city of Nis.

Useful teaching and learning material

http://inspiringenglish.blogspot.com/

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